Decentering the Canon in the Architectural Library

The library collects materials that have filtered through such canonizing forces as higher education and the publishing ecosystem. Can the library broaden the canon, or does it merely reinforce it? What critical interventions might we make to resist our canonizing tendencies, for today and or tomorrow?

Our panelists include expertise from a broad range of disciplines within architecture, including architectural history, museums, and practice:

• Charles L. Davis II, Assistant Professor of Architecture History and Criticism, University at Buffalo, SUNY

• Aneesha Dharwadker, Assistant Professor Illinois School of Architecture + Department of Landscape Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Leila Anna Wahba, Deputy Director & Culture Curator, Architecture + Design Museum, Los Angeles

The panel was moderated by Soumya Dasgupta, PhD. candidate in Architecture (History and Theory) in the Illinois School of Architecture, and Emilee Mathews, Head of Ricker Library of Architecture and Art, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This event was hosted by the Ricker Library of Architecture and Art on March 23, 2021, in partnership with the Illinois School of Architecture; funding is provided by the University of Illinois Library Innovation Fund and co-sponsored by the Humanities Research Institute.